Patriots Trade 5th-Rd Pick To Browns For Josh Gordon & Conditional Late-Rd Pick

Update:

Tom Pelissero reports that WR Josh Gordon officially passed his physical for the Patriots and the trade with the Browns is now official.

Adam Schefter reports that the Patriots have agreed to trade a 2019 fifth-round pick to the Browns for WR Josh Gordon and a conditional 2019 seventh-round pick that it’s based on whether he’s active for 10 games.

• According to Schefter, Gordon is healthy enough from his strained hamstring to play in Week 3’s game against the Lions.
• Schefter adds that the Browns spoke with the Cowboys, Redskins, 49ers and among others about a potential trade for Gordon and while Cleveland wanted to send him to an NFC team, the Patriots stepped in and closed the deal.

The Browns have already confirmed the news:

We've traded WR Josh Gordon to the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/2eYO4A69jq

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 17, 2018

The Cleveland Browns are “getting close” to trading WR Josh Gordon to the Patriots on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport. Rapoport adds that no deal is official just yet, but it’s “headed that way.”

It became clear that the Browns were more likely to trade Gordon on Saturday, despite the fact that they announced their plans to release him this week.

Rapoport reported earlier in the day that Gordon’s low salary and being controllable for two years could lead to a team parting with a “substantial” compensation for him.

The Patriots could clearly use a game-changing talent like Gordon at receiver.

It’s worth mentioning that Gordon is dealing with a hamstring injury is currently being evaluated to determine how much time he’ll miss.

Gordon, 27, is a former second-round supplemental pick of the Browns back in 2012. Suspensions forced Gordon to sit out the 2015 and 2016 seasons but he was reinstated in November of last year and finished out the seasons with the Browns.

The Browns re-signed Gordon to a one-year exclusive rights contract worth $790,000. Gordon is in line to be a restricted free agent in 2019.

In 2018, Gordon has appeared in one game and caught one pass for 17 yards and a touchdown.